This presentation introduces a pilot intervention model designed to address the cognitive impacts of trauma in underage female survivors of human trafficking in Mexico. While most recovery programs focus primarily on psychosocial stabilization and protection, the neurocognitive effects of prolonged trauma—such as difficulties with memory, attention, emotional regulation, and executive functioning—often remain unaddressed. Informed by the personal and professional experience of a survivor leader within the organization, the project responds to the need for more holistic survivor care. Implemented within a specialized safehouse in Mexico with funding from the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons (UNVTF), the pilot model combined psychoeducational assessments with individualized intervention plans for 16 adolescent survivors. The model drew on theories of trauma and neuroplasticity to understand cognitive impacts as adaptive survival responses that can improve in safe and supportive environments. Perspectives on neurodiversity and multiple intelligences informed the design of flexible educational and cognitive strategies tailored to each survivor’s learning style, developmental stage, and individual needs. Preliminary findings suggest improvements in participants’ cognitive functioning, including a reduction in the gap between mental and biological age ranged from 0.4 to 5 years, with several survivors showing increases of 2–4 years in cognitive performance after the pilot period of nine months. The presentation will share the project’s conceptual framework, methodology, early findings, and lessons learned, while exploring the potential for adapting and replicating this model in other survivor care settings across Latin America.
Nicole Gallego is the Operations Director at El Pozo de Vida, an anti-trafficking nonprofit based in Mexico City. She designs and evaluates survivor-support programs and research initiatives. She holds a Master’s in Social Work from the National Autonomous University of Mexico where she is an adjunct professor of social work methodology.
Claudia Deschamps is a clinical psychologist with 25 years of experience supporting children and adolescents in situations of vulnerability and violence. For over eight years, she has directed a safehouse for underage survivors of trafficking in Mexico and is also a lived-experience expert and activist against violence and trafficking.